The Environment and Visual 
Requirements of Railway 
Enginemen and Firemen. 

Personal Observations from an Engine Cab. 


Read at the Fifty-fifth Annual Session of the 
American Medical Association, in the Section 
on Ophthalmology, and approved for publica¬ 
tion by the Executive Committee: Drs. Frank 
Allport, John E. Weeks and R. L. Randolph. 


NELSON MILES BLACK, M.D. 

S I 

Milwaukee, Wis. 


Reprinted from The Journal of the American Medical 
Association. 


CHICAGO: 

riiESS OP AMERICAN MEDICAL. ASSOCIATION 
ONE HUNDRED AND THREE DEARBORN AVENUE 

1904. 




















THE ENVIRONMENT AND VISUAL REQUIRE¬ 
MENTS OF RAILWAY ENGINEMEN 
AND FIREMEN. 

PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS FROM AN ENGINE CAB. 


NELSON MILES BLACK, M.D. 

MILWAUKEE, WIS. 


Of the total railroad mileage of the United States 
(approximately 302,000 miles), nearly 13 per cent., or 
39,263.9 miles, 1 are using a block system of signaling 
for the protection and spacing of trains. This system 
of controlling trains requires, in the daytime, the de¬ 
termination of the position of a semaphore arm, about 
4 feet long by 6 inches wide, or distinguishing the color 
of a disc about 17 inches in diameter, displayed on a 
pole about 26 feet high. At night the color of a 6-inch 
lens, lighted by a kerosene lamp, must be observed. 
These must be determined by the enginemen at suffi¬ 
cient distance in which to control their trains. Mr. 
R. Quayle, superintendent of motive power of the Chi¬ 
cago & Northwestern Railway, kindly furnishes the fol¬ 
lowing data, which are the result of some recent experi¬ 
ments in controlling fast trains: 

With the ordinary brake, 70 pounds train-line pressure, a 
six-car train running 70 miles an hour can be stopped inside 
of 2,000 feet, approximately 1,900 feet, and when the high¬ 
speed brake, 110 pounds train-line pressure, is used on the same 
train and running at the same speed, the train can be stopped 
in 1,450 feet. 

It will be seen that a signal must be read at not much 
less than one-half mile (2,640 feet), as a few seconds 


1. Railroad Gazette, Jan. 22, 1904, p. 63. 








2 


are necessary for the engineman to shut off his steam 
and apply his air, and in each one of these seconds a 
train, traveling 70 miles an hour, is covering 88 feet. 

There is no question that next to the necessary prac¬ 
tical knowledge of his engine, the vision and color per¬ 
ception of enginemen is the most important. 

The latest obtainable statistics of railroad accidents 
(June 30, 1902, from the report of the Interstate Com¬ 
merce Committee), 2 gives the terrific number of 8,588 
killed and 64,662 injured from June 30, 1901, to June 
30, 1902. Collisions and a large percentage of derail¬ 
ments are the only class of accidents in which defective 
vision or color perception can be regarded as a causa¬ 
tive factor. Collisions caused 617 deaths and 5,350 in¬ 
juries, derailments caused 293 deaths and 2,504 in¬ 
juries. There seems to be no classification of accidents 
up to date which gives those caused by defective vision 
or color perception. 

During 1902, in Illinois, there were 138 derailments 
due to trains running against signals. 

None of the writers on the visual requirements of 
trainmen have given the subject of their environment 
much, if any, consideration. Dr. H. B. Young’s paper, 3 
“The Visual Requirements of Trainmen, Based on Per¬ 
sonal Observations from an Engine Cab,” was the first 
to do this, and suggested to me that deductions from a 
large series of observations made in the same environ¬ 
ment and under the same conditions as enginemen 
work, would be of material value. I was governed in 
these experiments by the standards required in the re¬ 
ports adopted by the American Medical Association, the 
American Ophthalmological Society, and the American 
Academy of Railway Surgeons. A careful examination 
of my eyes resulted in vision with either eye (without 
glasses) 6/V (20/15), perfect color vision and muscu¬ 
lar balance, refraction O. D. +.50 cyl. ax. 85°, O. S. 
+.62 cyl. ax. 135°. 

DAY SIGNALS. 

Trainmen and enginemen on steam roads are gov¬ 
erned in their manipulation or movement of trains 
very largely by signals. 

2. Report of Interstate Commerce Commission, 1903. 

3. Young, Dr. II. B.: The Visual Requirements of Trainmen, 
Based on Personal Observations from an Engine Cab, Annals 
Ophth., January, 1904. 





Railway signaling is of two kinds, visible and audible. 
This paper will deal only with visible signals. 

Visible signals are divided into two grand classes, 
fixed and moving. This division also applies to night 
as well as day signals. It is quite generally accepted 
that red designates danger, green or yellow caution, and 
white or green clear. This scheme usually applies to 
flags (Fig. 1), switch targets (Fig. 2), gates (Fig. 3) 
and bars, but color in block, interlocking and 
signal department work does not indicate much in day 
signaling, as practically all signals are position signals. 
This, however, makes the test for color vision none the 
less important. 4 



Fig. 1.—Classification flags on caboose and home signal, Illinois 
Central Railroad. 


It is to be remembered that the function of all fixed signals, 
whether called block signals or by some other name, is to in¬ 
form the engineman whether or not he may proceed beyond the 
signal, or on what conditions he may proceed, and to convey 
the information some seconds before it will have to be acted 
on. This last is a vital feature, for the essential difference 
between driving a horse in the street and driving a locomotive, 
the difference which makes costly signals necessary, is that the 
engine driver, controlling a heavy body moving at high speed, 
must have ample preliminary notice of any requirement to 
stop. 


4. Adams, B. B, ; The Block System, pp. 123, 139, 173. 









4 


Day-fixed signals are whistling posts, road-crossing 
signs, flags, switch targets, train order signals, gates or 
bars, interlocking and block signals (Figs 4 and 5). 

Whistling Posts. —These are 6-inch poles, about 5 
feet high, placed beside the track, indicating to the 
engineman when to whistle; they are usually dark red 
or white, with 18 inches of the top painted white, the 
letter “W” being painted in black on a flattened surface. 

Road-Grossing Signs. —These are usually oblong 
boards, about 12 inches by 18 inches, painted white with 
black bands running obliquely from corner to corner, 
and indicate a road crossing. 

Flags. —These are displayed at stations or are placed 
along the track by trackmen to indicate danger, or cau¬ 
tion to regulate speed of trains over a section of track 
in poor condition, etc. These flags are held open by 
fastening a twig or stick across them. They are also 
displayed on the pilots of engines and on the rear of 
trains as classification signals. They are made of bunt¬ 
ing about 16 inches by 18 inches, and are red, white 
and green, when new. 

Switch Targets. —These are used to designate the 
condition of the switches in relation to the main track 
or side tracks, and are of three general divisions, high, 
medium, and low standards (Figs. 6 and 7). They in¬ 
dicate the position of the switch-diverting rails by the 
shape, position and color of the target, which may be 
square, oval, round, kidney-shaped, an arrow, a bar or 
feather, etc. The colors used are red, green, white, yellow, 
black, or any combination of these colors, according to 
the judgment of the officers of the various roads. 

Train-Order Signals. —These are used to stop a train 
to receive orders. They commonly are sheet-iron discs 
of various shapes, attached to station buildings and un¬ 
der control of the station master, or may be semaphore 
arms attached to the building or on a mast isolated from 
the building. The colors used are red, green, white and 
black, or a combination of the same. 

Gates and Bars .—These are used at railroad cross¬ 
ings to show that a route is closed, and are so supported 
or suspended as to swing across one track or set of 
tracks and allow free passage on others. Variously 
constructed and shaped devices are used to meet the 
requirements of local conditions. These are usually 
painted red or white, or combinations. 


5 


Interlocking Signals .—These are usually of the sema¬ 
phore type, and are located alongside the track on the 
right-hand side and adjacent to, where possible, or on 
bridges immediately over the track they govern. The 
blades are painted red, white, green, yellow, and black, 
or combinations (Fig. 8). These signals are used at 
points where interlocking plants are installed to pro¬ 
tect conflicting train movements over intersecting tracks 
and, therefore, are extremely important. 

Block Signals .—These indicate whether the section of 
track ahead of them is occupied or not, and are very 
important signals in this age of limited trains. They 
are of three general types; in the first, the position; in 
the second, the color displayed gives the information; 



Fig. 2.—High switch target, Kansas City yards. 

while in the third, the combination of shape and color 
gives indication. The same colors are used as with in¬ 
terlocking signals. 

The semaphore is the best type of position block sig¬ 
nals, and consists of a tall pole with a blade at or near 
the top, arranged so that it can be placed at various 
angles to the perpendicular (Fig. 9). These sema¬ 
phores are used as three-position and two-position sig¬ 
nals in block signaling, as well as interlocking. The 
three-position is of two varieties, in one of which the 
blade may be placed at an angle of approximately 45 
degrees with the horizontal pointing upward, hori¬ 
zontally or at an angle of approximately 45 degrees 
pointing downward. In the other type the blade stands 













6 


at right angles to the perpendicular, dropped at 45 de¬ 
grees or dropped vertically and parallel with the pole. 
With the two-position semaphore the blade is at right 
angle or dropped at an angle of 45 degrees to 80 de¬ 
grees with the horizontal (Fig. 10). 

The shape of the ends of the blades are usually square^ 
pointed, fish-tail or round (concave or convex), and each 
shape has a special significance. On roads where pointed 
blades are used for train-order or block signals, the 
square end blade is used for home signals in connection 
with interlocking plants. These must not be passed 
when in the “stop” position, as they are usually,, con¬ 
nected with “derails,” and the engineman running by 
would derail his train, or if derails were not in use 
would foul a conflicting route. Such signals are often 
placed before draw-bridges, railroad crossings, etc. The 
fish-tail end is generally used for “distant signals” when 
the “home signal” (Fig. 11) can not be seen at suffi¬ 
cient distance, on account of curves or some obstruction, 
to allow the engineman space in which to stop his train, 
the “distant signal” indicates the condition of the 
“home signal” or is a repeater. 

“As the color of the blade has nothing to do with 
semaphore signal indication—position and shape of 
blade only governing in this matter—the color best 
adapted to local conditions may be used. On many 
lines home and advance signal blades are painted red, 
with a broad white stripe across near the outer end, and 
distant signals are painted green with a similar white 
stripe. On other lines orange has been adopted as the 
color for distant signals. Local characteristics, such 
as the color of the background and atmospheric condi¬ 
tions may be allowed to govern, although for many rea¬ 
sons a uniform standard is desirable.” 5 

The home interlocking and train-order signals are 
commonly painted red with a white band near the free 
end, and the “distant signal” green or yellow with a 
white band near the end. 

There is also a dwarf signal used, which is a 
miniature semaphore, about 3 feet in height, and which 
is used where the train movements are slow or where 
there is not room for a standard high signal. 

The one-armed standard high semaphore pole is 
usually about 26 feet above the ground. The two- 


5. Derr, W. L. r Block Signal Operation, p. 32. 




7 


armed is about 32 feet high, and the bracket pole is 
about 38 feet to 50 feet, as are also semaphores displayed 
on bridges. The blades are all about 4 feet in length. 

The Disc Signal .—This is a type of a color block 
signal, and consists of white or transparent background, 
before which a disc of red or green cloth is dropped, 
all mechanism being protected by a wood and glass 
case (Fig. 12). As a rule, they are not generally liked 
by trainmen for day signals,“because of the cloth becom¬ 
ing faded or dirty, and “inclosed signals may become 
obscured by damp snow sticking to the outside of the 
glass, and sometimes the rays of the sun or light re- 
fleeted from the sky will make it impossible to see the 
color of the signal promptly on approaching it. These 



Fig. 3.—Crossing gate, C. & G. W. R. R. 


difficulties may cause delay to trains, but they can not 
be called elements of danger, as a signal imperfectly 
displayed must, according to a rule which is universal, 
be regarded as a stop signal.” 6 

The Banner .—This is a type of a shape and color 
signal, and consists of an oval-shaped white disc with 
a black background, outlined by a white circle in the 
proceed position, and a red disc outlined by a white cir¬ 
cle on a black background in the stop position. 

Moving Signals .—These consist of red, green and 
white flags, and the motions of the arm and hand used 

6. Grafton, W. McC. r Railway Signaling, Bulletin of the Univ. 
of Wis., Engineering Series, 1896, p. 182. 















8 


by trainmen in transmitting information to the engine 
crew. The color of the flag affects the indication, and, 
as will be seen by these displayed, anyone with poor 
color perception or distinction would be in a quandary 
to read the signal. 

There is a general rule on many roads that the arm 
or any object waved violently is a “stop” signal. 

If the speed of the trains is much increased, as the 
experiments in Germany with the electrical road indi¬ 
cate, and a maximum of 100 to 120 miles an hour 
maintained, the semaphores will have to be much larger, 
to enable them to be seen at a sufficient distance to con¬ 
trol the train, or some automatic arrangement used 
which will cut off the current for an obstruction signal. 

NIGHT SIGNALS. 

As the trainmen are almost entirely dependent on 
signals at night for information as to track obstruc¬ 
tions, location, warnings and means of communication, 
this is the most important part of railway signaling—■ 
it should be the simplest, the surest, and should have 
the contrasts most marked. The colors used are red, 
white, green, and on some roads yellow. 

The fixed night signals are white, red, yellow and 
green lamps or lanterns, with purple or dark blue in 
use for back lights at interlocking plants. Red and 
green fuzees are used for emergency signals and to in¬ 
dicate track conditions. 

The condition of switches is indicated by white, yel¬ 
low, red or green lamps placed on the top of the tar¬ 
gets. Gates and bars are indicated in'the same man¬ 
ner. 

In all night signaling, while the color is the main in¬ 
dication, the location of the lights has something to 
do with determining the meaning of signals, i. e., a red 
above a white or green will indicate one thing, and a 
white or green above a red another; hence the necessity 
for perfect color perception. Yellow is used as a cau¬ 
tion signal on roads where green is used for clear. Its 
usefulness is in case a glass should break in any sig¬ 
nal, a white light would show when it should be yel¬ 
low, red or green, and indicates that something is 
wrong. 

The arrangement of night signals, green and red on the home 
signal and green and yellow on the distant, has been the prac- 


9 


tice on the New York, New Haven & Hartford for about two 
years, and is being adopted by a few other roads. The use of 
green for “Proceed” relieves the enginemen of the risk of tak¬ 
ing a street or house light for an all-right signal. Yellow 
lights, to be always quickly distinguished from common “white” 
lights, must be so dark as to look a little like red, but this 
likeness is n'ot found to cause any difficulty in practice. Even 
if a distant signal were to be taken for a stop signal, no harm 
would ensue.* 

Night-motion signals are made with white, red, yel¬ 
low and green lanterns swung by hand. 

Mr. Chas. Dunham, signal engineer of the Illinois 
Central Railroad, in a personal letter, states: 

Referring to our conversation of recent date relative to the 
use of green and yellow in railroad signaling, green as the pro- 



Fig. 4.—Combination disc and semaphore block, C. & N. W. R. R. 

ceed night signal is preferable to white for the reason that 
green lights are seldom used for purposes other than as sig¬ 
nals and in consequence the possibility of the enginemen run¬ 
ning on lights of no real significance to him is greatly reduced. 
When green is used as the proceed night signal it is necessary 
that we use some other color as a caution signal. Yellow up to 
this time has been the only color available and in practice; it 
has been satisfactory. It is true, of course, that yellow has a 
strong reddish tinge, but this should not be used as an argu¬ 
ment against the use of yellow, as the reddish tinge, if very 
strongly pronounced, will only result in a train being brought 
to a stop where a reduced speed was the' desired effect. 

F. P. Patenall, signal engineer B. & 0. R. R., says: 

I would like to indorse the remarks made by Mr. Dunham 







10 


of the Illinois Central Railroad, relative to the use of green 
lights for clear and yellow lights for caution.- In 1894 I agi¬ 
tated the change in the color of signal lights, but with little 
success at that time. Since then, however, the B. & O. S. W. 
division of our road has adopted the colors above named. The 
abolition of the white light and the substituting of green and 
yellow for signal purposes is something that will come about 
before very long and its practicability has been demonstrated 
not only on this road, but on the N. Y., N. H. & H. R. R. R., 
I. C. R. R., C., C., C. & St. L. R. R. and other large roads in 
this country, and I believe that the change will be universal 
before many years. 

Mr. W. McC. Grafton, signal engineer of the Penn¬ 
sylvania Tines, says: 

With few exceptions the practice to-day is to use red for 
danger, green for caution and white for safety, but there is a 
strong effort being made to change this so as to do away with 
white for safety and to use green in its place. There are two 
reasons for desiring to make this change: 1. That there are 
so many white lights used around cities and towns that the 
engineman is apt to mistake one of these lights for a safety 
signal. 2. I think the best reason, the colored glass used in 
the spectacle frame of the semaphore arm may be broken out 
and the white light from the lamp will then show through the 
spectacle frame, giving a safety signal when the signal arm is 
at danger. If the use of a white light for signal purposes is 
done away with and red is used for danger and green for safe¬ 
ty, it leaves us without any colored light for a caution signal, 
since there are only three primary colors—red, green and 
blue—and a kerosene lamp can not be obtained which will give 
a strong enough blue light to answer for a signal. The roads 
that have adopted green for safety use a combination of red 
and green for caution. ... I think our present method is 
the best, red for danger, white for safety and green for caution, 
as the chance for an engineman to mistake some colored light 
in a city or town for his signal is about as great as the chance 
that he will mistake some other than his own white light for 
his signal. 

Quoting from a personal letter from Mr. Grafton: 

The question of adopting green for a caution signal was very 
thoroughly discussed by the American Railway Association for 
two or three years, and finally compromised by allowing the 
roads to adopt whichever they thought best, and several of our 
roads have adopted green for safety. They are, however, all 
using what they call a “Nels” yellow for the caution position: 
the Nels yellow gets its name from the man who manufactured 
the lens. He experimented for quite a while until he claimed to 
have obtained a glass shaped and shaded so as to give a dis- 


11 


tincb and uniform color in all lenses. I bought some of these 
and, 'without notifying our engineers that we were going to 
make any change, I had them used in various ways to see what 
the effect would be, and in almost every case they were taken 
for a red light. A short time ago this subject came up for dis¬ 
cussion by a committee of officers of our lines, and from in¬ 
formation received he found there had been as many accidents 
due to misunderstanding the yellow or caution signal in the 
short time that they have been used as there ever was from the 



Fig. 5.—Disc block signal, C. & N. W. R. R. 


o T een or red glass being broken out of the spectacle frame of 
the semaphore casting and a false signal being given by the 
white light showing through. Our present method of using 
white for clear is just as safe as those who are using green for 
a clear signal. 

There has been some effort made to get a position 
signal for night, bnt so far nothing satisfactory has 
been accomplished. 













12 


TRAIN ORDERS. 

The fact that the time schedule of trains must be 
so closely followed and telegraphic permission must be 
obtained by enginemen and conductors to proceed if 
their train is late, also adds greatly to the safety of 
trains running under the block system. 

Train orders written on different colored paper, which 
designates the class, is in use on some roads. For in¬ 
stance, the Baltimore & Ohio uses yellow for general, 
green for caution and white for clearance orders. 

Some roads use signals which stand normally in the 
clear position, while others use those which are normally 
in the danger position. Both have their advantages and 
disadvantages; normally at danger position would seem 
the safest, however. 

THE ENGINEER. 

“A few years ago the profession of engine driver 
was one which did not require such an amount of skill 
as is necessary to-day. Men who entered the ranks 
were brought up from the brake.men and firemen class 
and were rather men of superior intelligence. To-day, 
however, all is changed, for the reason that a higher 
grade of ability is demanded and high speed locomo¬ 
tives are infinitely intricate and demand a higher grade 
of scientific knowledge.” 

CONDITIONS ABOUT ENGINE AND RAILROAD YARDS. 

Conditions existing about an engine, such as the es¬ 
cape of steam when an injector is used, when the whistle 
is blown, from leaking valves or connections, from the 
poorly packed piston rods of air pumps, cylinders and 
steam chests, will often completely envelope the engine 
and cab (Fig. 13). Steam and soot from the smoke¬ 
stack is often blown back against the cab windows, cov¬ 
ering them with steam and dirt and making it next to 
impossible to see through them, to say nothing of ob¬ 
taining a view of anything through the condensed steam 
and smoke. This is especially true in passing under 
the viaducts or bridges entering the railroad yards of 
large cities, where there are many moving engines and 
trains, and signals must be closely watched for Fig. 
14). In freezing weather the escaping steam is espe¬ 
cially bad, as the windows are coated with ice, and vision 
through them is out of the question. The escape of steam 


13 


inside the cab in cold weather often coats the side win¬ 
dows with frost and ice, but rarely the front ones, as the 
rush of cold air against them while in motion keeps 
them clear. Double glass is also used, with an air space 
between, which prevents their freezing. The dust 
raised by passing trains often coats the windows, espe¬ 
cially if they are damp from escaping steam; the en- 
gineman’s position, being on the right side, escapes most 
of this, however, on roads which run their trains right- 
handed on double tracks. The cloud raised from plough¬ 
ing through snow drifts shuts off all vision for the time. 
Some considerable complaint is made of the drivers 
throwing mud and dirt on the front windows in moist 
weather. 



Pig. G.—Low switch target, Milwaukee yards. 

THE FIREMAN. 

The glare from the furnace door when the engine 
is stoked makes the reading of signals much more dif¬ 
ficult. There is an iron shield above the furnace door 
on the engineman’s side, which protects him somewhat. 
Many enginemen have their seat curtained off to relieve 
them of this glare. After looking into this glow from 
the position of a fireman during the time required to 
shovel in five or six shovels of coal, it is an utter im¬ 
possibility for a novice to read a signal. There was a 
black scotoma before my eyes, the size of the furnace 
door, for fully ten minutes, and I could distinguish 







14 


nothing except eccentrically. Firemen have told me 
they could not even see their steam gauge for several 
minutes after a stoking, and when one takes into consid¬ 
eration that from three to ten tons of coal are handled 
in a two to five hours’ run, there is not much let up 
from looking into the fire-box, and when this is done 
daily for five or six years, or even longer, before a fire¬ 
man can expect to become an engineman, it must be a 
good pair of eyes that can stand it and pass the re¬ 
quired standard examination for promotion; without a 
rest or change. 

Again quoting from Mr. Quayle’s letter: 

I think you are correct in this matter—that is. it is- 
quite difficult for a new fireman to do this, and it would affect 
one’s eyes who is not accustomed to it, but the firemen who 
are accustomed to this kind of work have a method of shielding 
their eyes by the manner in which they guard them with their 
eyelids, and closing the eyes. They can look into a fire and 
distinguish things you and I could not do. The same is true 
of a blacksmith. Take a blacksmith and let him have a piece of 
iron in the fire, and when it is pretty nearly up to the tempera¬ 
ture of the fire, the blacksmith, with his trained eye, can see 
the difference there is between the color of the iron and the 
color of the surrounding body of fire, while the eyes of the 
novice would be so affected by the brightness of the light that 
he would not be able to see anything in the fire. This is true 
with a locomotive fireman. When he gets accustomed to it, he 
can use his eyes advantageously to the light conditions before 
him. 

HEADLIGHTS. 

The divergent rays from the headlight make it more 
difficult to read signals if there is fog, snow or mist in 
the air; with the electric headlights, while they are of 
the greatest advantage in all other ways, this is much 
more aggravated, an immense disc of reflecting and re¬ 
fracting particles is directly before one, and it is al¬ 
most impossible to distinguish signals through it. If 
these headlights were built on the same principle as the 
searchlights of the Navy, so that they would throw par¬ 
allel rays and could be deflected to strike the track at 
say 100 yards’ distance in front of the engine, they 
would be greatly improved. This effect was obtained 
for Dr. Young and myself on the Burlington Road by 
Mr. J. A. Carney, 7 the master mechanic of the Burling- 

7. Carney. J. A. : The Electric Headlight, West. Railway Club 
May 17, 1904. 




15 


ton Division, by making an extension to cut off the di¬ 
vergent rays and stopping the light down with a dia¬ 
phragm. An 18-inch extension with the light stopped 
down to a pencil about 9 inches in diameter made a 
perfect light. 

Mr. Mark A. Ross, 8 general manager of the Pyle-Na¬ 
tional Electric Headlight Co., in discussing Mr. Car¬ 
ney’s paper before the Western Railway Club, said: 

I have a great many letters, too, from engineers who are 
running the electric headlights, who state that they strain 



Fig. 7.—Medium and high switch target, Milwaukee yards. Bad 
background. 

their eyes more in running an engine with an oil headlight in 
one night than they do with the electric headlight, for the 
reason that they are always gazing fixedly ahead, trying to 
find or pick up something, and with the electric headlight they 
can sit back in the cab; they do not have to put their heads 
outside of the cab, and they can see anything just as they can 
in the daytime. 

Mr. R. Quayle, superintendent of motive power of the 


8. Ross. Mark A. : The Electric Headlight, West. Railway Club. 
May 17. 1904. 

















16 


Chicago & Northwestern Railway, in a personal letter, 
says: 

I understand from those who have had experience in this 
line that the electric headlight can be so adjusted as to enable 
the engineer to see the signals as clearly as he can by the use 
of the oil lamp. In experiments that have been made during 
recent years on the Rock Island, and more recently on the 
Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, by putting an extension on the 
front end of the headlight, they carried the light in one 
straight shaft ahead, but I presume the setting of the arc at 
the right focus has more to do with this than anything else. 

. . . With the ordinary brake, 70 pounds train-line pres¬ 

sure, a six-car train running 70 miles an hour can be stopped 
inside of 2,000 feet, approximately 1,900 feet, and when the 
high-speed brake, 110 pounds train-line pressure, is used on the 
same train and running at the same speed the train can be 
stopped in 1,450 feet. With an electric headlight, objects on 
the track could be seen very easily at that distance and would 
give the engineer time to stop, particularly with the high¬ 
speed brake. This is, of course, with the straight track in mind. 

It is impossible to estimate distances accurately be¬ 
hind an electric headlight, or to tell how far off an 
oncoming train lighted with one is. 

The effect on the eyes of looking into an approaching 
electric headlight on double tracks is very much the 
same as looking into a searchlight, but it is unnecessary 
for enginemen to look directly into the source of light. 

The superintendent of motive power, Mr. A. E. Man¬ 
chester, of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, 
in speaking of headlights, said: 

Their main usefulness is in the warning they give to the 
approaching enginemen, and at road crossings, and the ability 
to see whistling posts. A train traveling at the rate of speed 
our limited trains maintain can not be stopped within the dis¬ 
tance a broken rail or obstruction across the track can be seen 
with the best headlight in use at present. 

MOTION OF THE ENGINE. 

The constant jarring, swaying and rolling of an en¬ 
gine traveling at a high rate of speed, is another factor 
in making signal reading difficult. 

The constant supervision of an engine takes no small 
part of an engineman’s time and attention, and his 
duties are far more than sitting on the seat and watch¬ 
ing for signals. This is especially true when there is 
any trouble with the various mechanisms under his care. 


17 


ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS. 

Certain atmospheric conditions are not only a source 
of great annoyance in reading signals, but often com¬ 
pletely obscure them at a distance sufficient to control 
a train. Fog, snow, mist and rain take precedence in 
the order given, and when it is necessary for better vis¬ 
ion to have the head out of the cab window, the impinge¬ 
ment of the tine particles of snow, mist or rain against 
the eyes blinds one almost instantly. The force of the 



Fig. 8.—Latest style train order signal, semaphore type, C., R. I. 
& P. R. R. 


wind traveling at a high rate of speed causes the tears 
to flow and blurs the vision after a very short exposure. 

Night signals are seen at a greater distance in these 
atmospheric conditions than day. The foreground and 
background of day signals make a great difference with 
their being easily seen. A sky background is the ideal 
(Fig. 15); the kind of day does not seem to make 










18 


much difference. Signals displayed on roads running 
through mountainous country, and especially where 
there are many curves in valleys, are very hard to dis¬ 
tinguish from the elevated positions on either side 
(Fig. 16). Woods stripped of their leaves or in full 
foliage, the proximity to buildings and bridges, all tend 
to make the position signals less distinct, while the 
cross-bars of telegraph poles are very confusing (Figs. 
17, 18, 19, 20). Undoubtedly night signals are much 
easier read, as the contrast is so much greater, but as to 
their being seen any farther, or so far, atmospheric con¬ 
ditions being the same, is questionable. 

The reflection from snow, from a body of water, from 
the solid green of foliage, running toward the sun when 
near the' horizon, the shimmer in the atmosphere on 
hot summer days, all are features which add much to 
the difficulty of seeing signals. 

Thus it will be seen from the factors enumerated 
above requiring good vision and those tending to in¬ 
terfere with it, the best known standard of binocular 
single vision and color perception is none too good, and 
not only must a man have this, but it must be “quick 
vision” (referred to by Dr. A. H. Andrews 9 and Dr. 
J. E, Minney 10 ), for he may for an instant be able to 
see through some break in the interfering media, and 
must be able to read his signal in that instant. 

There seems to be no means of overcoming the in¬ 
terference with vision by escaping steam. An engine 
may come from the roundhouse in perfect condition, 
but when partly through its run something occurs which 
allows a leak, and the enginemen have this to contend 
with. 

EXPERIMENTS WITH LENSES. 

Lenses of various colors were experimented with in 
looking into the fire-box from the fireman’s position, 
and then trying to read day and night signals. The 
night signals were harder to see because of the glare be¬ 
ing more intense in the surrounding darkness, the day¬ 
light relieving part of its intensity. Smoke lenses of 


9. Andrews, Dr. A. H. : Discussion of Dr. Allport’s paper, 
“Some Remarks Concerning the Requirements of R. R. Employes,” 
The Railway Surgeon. January, 1904. 

10. Minney, Dr. J. B.: Discussion of Dr. Allport’s paper, “Some 
Remarks Concerning the Requirements of R. R. Employes,” The 
Railway Surgeon, January, 1904. 



19 


the deeper shades allowed one to look into the fire-box 
without producing a scotoma before the eyes, but dis¬ 
tinguishing signals with them and seeing the various 
mechanism about the cab distinctly, is out of the ques¬ 
tion ; the color signals are made very indistinct. Green 
lenses are very good, but they blot out the red lights 
entirely, making one blind to red. Red lenses make the 
green appear dirty white, producing green blindness. 



Fig. 9.—Train order signal, semaphore type, L. S. & M. S. R. R. 


Blue lenses do not cut out enough of the bright rays, and 
one is troubled with scotoma. A light amber lens, such 
as referred to in the German abstracts in the Annals of 
Ophthalmology 11 and by Dr. H. H. Seabrook , 12 as hav- 


11. Dolganow and Klimowitsch: On Yellow and Yellow-green 
Glasses, Annals Ophth., October, 1901, July, 1903. 

12 Seabrook, Dr. H. H.: Amber Yellow Glasses in the Ex¬ 
amination and Treatment of the Eye, Medical News, Aug. 22, 1903. 








20 


ing been tried in the German army for target practice, 
gave a perfect result. I could look into the fire-box 
of the large type engines, see all parts distinctly, re¬ 
lieved of the blinding glare, see about the cab perfectly, 
climb on the seat with no spot before my eyes, and the 
signal lights maintain their clear definition of color, 
white being tinged a slight yellowish. The green light 
can not be seen at so great a distance as with the naked 
eye, but red and white can be seen an equal distance 
and with equal distinctness. The effect produced by 
watching the lights with green lenses before the eyes 
was rather weird, as red lights were practically blotted 
out, and on removing the lenses flash into view in a 
startling manner; the white and green lights were not 
affected. With red lenses the green lights were ob¬ 
served as white coming through dirty glass; the white 
lights were tinged with a faint red. 

EFFECT OF THE FURNACE GLARE ON THE EYES. 

As to the effect on the eyes of looking directly into 
the white heat of a furnace, various authorities disagree. 
Snell 13 says: 

There is, I think, no definite evidence that men exposed to 
the heat and glare of the furnaces or from the molten metal 
suffer materially in their eyesight, though some assert that 
disease of the background of the eye is occasioned in some in¬ 
stances. 

Fuchs mentions retinitis due to a dazzling produced 
by gazing at sun and electric arc lights. 

The following questions were sent to a number of oph¬ 
thalmic surgeons who come more or less in contact with 
men working under these conditions: 

1. Have you found among furnaeemen, glassblowers, railroad 
firemen or iron mill workers ocular conditions the result of 
looking into the glare of furnaces, which have caused any 
reduction in vision? 2. If so, was the injury permanent? 

Many answers were negative. A few replies from con¬ 
servative men are quoted: 

Dr. Ledbetter, Birmingham, Ala., reports two or 
three cases of chorioidai irritation among brass furnace 
workers. 

Dr. Edward Jackson says: 

I have seen early opacity of the lens in a glassblower and 
several cases of inflammation and subsequent atrophy of the 


13. Snell, Simeon : Dangerous Trades. 



COMPARISON OF THE SEVERAL REPORTS 


ADOPTED FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE SIGHT AND HEARING OF TRAINMEN; WITH SUGGESTIONS FOR A UNIFORM REPORT. 


REPORT OP OPHTHALMIC SECTION, 

AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIA¬ 
TION, 1901. 

Section 1.—-The essential principle to 
be advocated is that railroad corpora¬ 
tions shall require a scientific and cor¬ 
rect examination of the eyes and ears of 
those employes at all to be concerned 
with the active operating of trains or in 
giving or receiving signals. 

Sec. 2.—Such primary examinations 
should, whenever possible, be made by 
regularly appointed eye and ear sur¬ 
geons, and this point is emphatically 
urged, especially as the expense of a first 
examination may always be borne bv 
the applicant; but if such a course is 
not deemed expedient, the company's 
surgeon, aided by his medical assistants 
might conduct them, with the under¬ 
standing that all doubtful cases shall 
be sent to a regularly appointed eye and 
ear surgeon. 

Sec. 4,—New men shall be required 
to possess perfect color sense. They 
shall also have a vision of 20/20 in each 
eye, without glasses, and have healthy 
eyes, and not over one diopter of hyper- 
metropia. They shall also hear the 
whispered voice at 20 feet in a quiet 
room and have healthy ears. 


report oe house op 

AMERICAN MEDICAL 
TION, 1902. 


DELEGATES 

ASSOCIA- 


ss lo “ 

atine o tni, « d Wlt !‘ the active °P e ‘- 
signals 1 1 ’ or ln S lviu g or receiving 

, 2 -—Such examination should, 

■imioinwi possib1 ®’ be “ade by regularly 
ppointed eye and ear surgeons; and in 

be con ducted according to the 
,r & i 1UCtlo , ns ’, aud under the supervision 
t a regularly appointed eye and ear sur- 
geon, and with apparatus and under con¬ 
ditions approved by him, and all doubt¬ 
ful cases should be referred to him for 
personal examination. 


Sec. 3. New men should be required 
to hear the spoken voice at 20 feet in a 
quiet room, and have healthy ears. 

Sec. 4.—The acuteness of vision 
should be tested by the test types of 
l r of ess or Snellen, or those which con¬ 
form to his standards. 


Sec. 3. — There shall be two general 
standards of visual and aural require¬ 
ments, viz., those for new men hoping to 
enter the service, and to be actively en¬ 
gaged in the operation of trains and the 
giving and receiving signals; and sec¬ 
ondly, those men engaged in similar 
work, who have been uninterruptedly in 
a company's service for five years, and 
who have, therefore, a right to be called 
old employes. . 

Sec. 5. — For the purposes of gradu¬ 
ated requirements old employes shall'-be 
divided into two classes as follows: 
Class A — Engineers, firemen, conductors, 
brakemen, switchmen, signalmen, switch- 
tenders, and engine dispatchers. Class 
B — Track foremen, bridge foremen, 
crossing flagmen, bridge tenders, gate- 
men, train baggagemen, telegraph oper¬ 
ators, station agents, and station bag¬ 
gagemen. 

Employes enumerated in Class A shall 
not be retained in such positions if 
vision sinks below 20/30 in one eye and 
20/40 in the other or if the whispered 
voice can not be heard in a quiet room 
at 15 feet by one ear and 10 feet by the 
other. Employes enumerated in Class I! 
shall not be retained in such positions if 
vision sinks below 20/40 in one eye and 
20/50 in the other, or if the whispered 
voice can not be heard in a quiet room 
at 10 feet by both ears. Employes, and 
especially engineers and firemen enumer¬ 
ated in Class A, must reach the visual 
standard without glasses and will not be 
allowed to wear distance glasses when 
cm duty. Employes enumerated in.Class 
B may reach the visual standard with 
Ann flowed to wear 

^msse^ when onTiuiy, and will be re¬ 
quired to do so if the wearing of glasses 
is necessary to bring vision up to the 
proper standard, and shall always be re¬ 
quired to carry an extra pair of glasses 
when on duty in cases of accident to one 
pair. All employes shall have perfect 
color sense. 


Sec. 5.—The following minimum re¬ 
quirements should be adopted for acute¬ 
ness of vision: 


CLASS A. 

Enginemen (road service), firemen 
(road service) : 

Entrance to Service or Promotion .— 
20/20 in each eye tested separately with¬ 
out glasses. 

Re-Examination of Those in the Serv¬ 
ice. —20/30 with both eyes open, with¬ 
out glasses. Each eye should also be 
tested separately and the vision of each 
noted. 

CLASS B. 

Other employes in the engine, train or 
yard service, and car and engine inspec¬ 
tors : 

Entrance to Service or Promotion .— 
20/20 in one eye and not less than 20/40 
in the other. Tested separately without 
glasses. 

Re-Examination of Those in the Serv¬ 
ice. —20/40 with both eyes open, without 
glasses. Each eye should also be tested 
separately and the vision of each noted. 

CLASS c. 

Towermen, telegraph operators, sta¬ 
tion agents, section foremen : 

Entrance to Service or Promotion .— 
20/20 in one eye and not less than 20/40 
in the other. Tested separately with or 
without glasses. 

Re-Examination of Those in the Serv¬ 
ice. —20/40 with both eyes open, with or 
without glasses. Each eye should also 
be tested separately and the vision of 
each noted. 

CLASS D. 


Crossing flagmen : 

Entrance to Service or Promotion .— 
20/40 with both eyes open, with or with¬ 
out glasses. 

Re-Examination of Those in the Serv¬ 
ice. —20/50 with both eyes open, with or 
without glasses. 

Sec. 7.— (a) Employes enumerated in 
Class A must reach the visual standard 
without glasses, and should not be al¬ 
lowed to wear distance glasses when on 
duty. , . _. 

(b) Employes enumerated in Classes 

B, C, D. should be allowed to wear 
glasses when on duty, and should be re¬ 
quired to do so if the wearing of glasses 
is necessary to bring vision up to the 
proper standard. They should always be 
required to carry an extra pair of glasses 
when on duty, in case of accident to 

one pair. , . . 

(c) Employes enumerated in Class A 

should not be retained in such positions 
if vision sinks below 20/30 with both 
eyes open, or if the spoken voice can not 
be beard in a quiet room at 15 feet. 

(cl) Employes enumerated in Classes 
B and C should not be retained in such 
positions if vision sinks below 20/40 
with both eyes open, and Class D whose 
minimum standard should be “0/50 ; or 
if the voice can not be heard in a quiet 
room at 10 feet by both ears. 

Sec. 8 .—There should be two general 
standards of visual and aural require¬ 
ments, viz., one for new men hoping to 
enter the service, and to be actively en¬ 
gaged in the operation of trains, and in 
giving and receiving signals; knd one 
for those men engaged in similar work 
who have been uninterruptedly in a com- 
panv's service for five years, either the 
company from which employment is 
sought, or some other company enforc¬ 
ing similar regulations. Those latter 
may be regarded as old employes. 

g EC , 9.—The color perception should 

be tested by means of (lie cola 5f? „^ ar ' 
steds of Professor Holmgren, pieferably 
with worsteds tagged for the purpose or 
record; also, that in every case an addi¬ 
tional test should bo made with a lan¬ 
tern showing a number of colored lights, 
which can be varied in their size and In¬ 
tensity. 


Sec. 0.—Re-examination shall be 
made of all men every three years and 
after a severe illness or accident or any 
occurrence which seems to cast doubt on 
the visual and aural capacities of the 
Individual. Re-examinations shall also 
be made more frequently on men known 
to be excessive users of tobacco or to be 
suffering from syphilis, albuminuria, dia 
betes or acute or chronic eye and ear 
diseases. Men shall always be re-exam¬ 
ined before promotion. 

g BC 7,—Men known to be excessive 
users of liquor shall not receive employ 
ment. 


. 10,_Re-examination should be 

of all such employes every three 
:; and after any severe illness or 
ent or any occurrence which seems 
st doubt on the visual and aural ca- 
v of the individual. Re-examlna- 
" should also be made more fre- 
ly on men known to be excessive 
of tobacco or to be suffeiing from 
lis, albuminuria, diabetes, or acute 
ironic eye or ear diseases. Uiey 
d always be examined before pro- 
>n. 

, 11—Men known to be excessive 
"of liquor should not receive em- 
aent for the services above desig- 
1 (Sec. 5). The co-operation of the 
ives themselves should be sought by 
ations that will encourage them to 
t promptly any temporary impair- 
of vision or hearing. 


REPORT OF AMERICAN ACADEMY 

OF RAILWAY SURGEONS, 1903. 

Section 1.—It is essential that rail¬ 
road corporations should require definite 
and scientific examinations of the sight 
and hearing of those employes who will 
be at all concerned with the active oper¬ 
ating of trains, or in giving or receiving 
signals. 

Sec. 2.—Such examination should, 
whenever possible, be made by regular 
appointed eye and ear surgeons. 


Sec. 3.—New men should be required 
to hear the spoken voice or acoumeter at 
20 feet in a quiet room in each ear. 
The acoumeter is recommended as the 
most accurate means of testing the hear¬ 
ing. 

Sec. 4.—The acuteness of vision 
should be tested by the test types of 
Professor Snellen or those which con¬ 
form to his standards. 


Sec. 6.-—There should be two general 
standings of visual and aural require¬ 
ments, viz.: one for new men hoping to 
enter the service and to be actively en¬ 
gaged in the operation of trains, and in 
giving and receiving signals; and one 
for those men engaged in similar work, 
who have been uninterruptedly in a com¬ 
pany’s service for five years, either the 
company from which employment is 
sought, or some other company enforc¬ 
ing similar regulations. These latter 
may be regarded as old employes. 

CLASSES. 

In the first class of those with normal 
hearing, color sense and visual power, 
are included the following: engineers, 
firemen, engine dispatchers, conductors, 
brakemen, yard masters, switchmen, sig¬ 
nalmen. and train baggagemen. 

In the second class, which includes 
station agents, telegraph operators, sta¬ 
tion baggagemen, switch tenders, section 
foremen, bridgemen, railroad crossing 
flagmen, watchmen and crossing flag¬ 
men, normal color sense and normal 
hearing are demanded, but applicants in 
this case may be accepted with 20/40 
visual power in one eye, provided that 
of the other eye be normal, or with 
20/30 visual power in each eye. 

No applicant shall be accepted who is 
compelled to wear glasses in order to 
meet the above requirements. 

Firemen and brakemen examined for 
promotion may be accepted with 20/20 
in one eye and 20/30 vision in the 
other, provided they have no other de¬ 
fects. It is understood, of course, that 
this does not apply to applicants for 
service. 

Old employes not seeking promotion 
mav be continued in the service if by 
using glasses vision can be brought to 
20/30 in each eye. 


Sec. 5.—The color perception should 
be tested by means of the colored wor¬ 
steds of Professor Holmgren, preferably 
with worsteds tagged for the purpose of 
record. 


Sec. 7.—Re-examination should be 
made of all such employes every three 
years; and after any severe illness, or 
accident, or any occurrence which seems 
to cast doubt on the visual and aural 
capacity of the individual. Re-examina¬ 
tion should also be made more fre¬ 
quently on men known to be excessive 
users of tobacco or to be suffering from 
syphilis, albuminuria, diabetes, or acute 
or chronic eye diseases They should al¬ 
ways be examined before promotion 

Sec. 8—Men known to be excessive 
users of liquor should not receive em¬ 
ployment for the services above desig 
nated. The co-operation of employes 
themselves should be sought by regula¬ 
tions that will encourage them to report 
promptly any temporary impairment of 
vision or hearing. 


REPORT OF AMERICAN OPHTHAL 
MOLOGICAL SOCIETY, 1901. 

Section 1.—That all railroad . em¬ 
ployes concerned with the movement of 
trains or reading of signals be carefully 
examined as to their acuteness of vision, 
color perception and hearing. 


Sec. 2.—That a trained ophthalmic 
surgeon be selected by each company, 
who shall instruct and examine the men 
selected by the company to make these 
tests, shall recommend the standards and 
methods to be used, shall see that the 
equipment furnished to each examiner is 
sufficient, that it is kept in proper orde. 
and renewed when necessary, and who 
shall be the authority to whom th • 
doubtful cases shall be referred for final 
settlement. 

Sec. 7.—That the hearing be tested by 
the spoken word of the examiner and by 
a watch or acoumeter, and that for en¬ 
trance to the service a candidate be re¬ 
quired to repeat correctly words or num 
bers spoken in an ordinary conversa¬ 
tional tone at a distance of 20 feet; or, 
for re-examination, at a distance of 10 
feet. 

Sec. 3. —That the acuteness of vision 
shall be tested by the test types of Pro¬ 
fessor Snellen, or those which conform 
to his standards. 


Sec. 4.—That the following minimum 
requirements be adopted for acuteness of 
vision: 

class a. 

Enginemen (road service), firemen 
(road service) : 

Entrance to Service or Promotion .— 
20/20 in each eye tested separately, 
without glasses. 

Re-Examination of Those m the Serv¬ 
ice.- —20/30 with both eyes open, without 
glasses. Each eye should also be tested 
separately and the vision of each noted. 

CLASS B. 

Other employes in the engine, train or 
yard service, and car and engine inspec¬ 
tors : 

Entrance to Service or Promotion .— 
20/20 in one eye and not less than 20/40 
in the other. Tested separately without 
glasses. 

Re-Examination of Those in the Serv¬ 
ice. —20/40 with both eyes open, without 
glasses. Each eye should also be tested 
separately and the vision of each noted. 

class c. 

Towermen, telegraph operators, sta¬ 
tion agents, section foremen: 

Entrance to Service or Promotion .— 
20/20 in one eye and not less than 20/40 
in the other. Tested separately with or 
without glasses. 

Re-Examination of Those in the Serv¬ 
ice. —20/40 with both eyes open with or 
without glasses. Each eye should also 
be tested separately and the vision of 
each noted. 

class d. 

Crossing flagmen : 

Entrance to Service or Promotion .— 
20/40 with both eyes open, with or with¬ 
out glasses. 

Re-Examination of Those in the Serv¬ 
ice. —20/50 with both eyes open, with 
or without glasses. 


Sec. 5.—That the color perception be 
tested by means of Ibe colored worsteds 
of Professor Holmgren, preferably with 
worsteds tagged for purposes of record ; 
also, that in every case au additional 
test be made with a lantern, showing a 
number of colored lights,_ which can be 
varied in their size and intensity. 

Sec. 6.—That no one shall be consid¬ 
ered to have satisfactory color percep¬ 
tion who calls a red light green, a green 
light red, a red light white, under any 
of the varying conditions of the lantern 
test; or who selects with the green and 
also with the rose test skeins the char¬ 
acteristic confusion colors. 

Sec. 8.— That re-examinations be 
made at intervals of three years, also 
before promotion, and oftener in special 
cases, where necessary. 


SUGGESTIONS FOR A UNIFORM 
REPORT BY THE AUTHOR. 

Section i.—It is essential that rail¬ 
road corporations should require definite 
and scientific examinations of the sight 
and hearing of those employes who will 
be at all concerned with the active oper¬ 
ating of trains, or in giving or receiving 
signals. 

Sec. 2.—That a trained ophthalmic 
surgeon be selected by each company, 
who shall instruct and examine the men 
selected by the company to make these 
tests, shall recommend the standards 
and methods to be used, shall see that 
the equipment furnished to each exam¬ 
iner is sufficient, that it is kept in 
proper order and renewed when nec¬ 
essary, and who shall be the authority 
to whom the doubtful cases shall be re¬ 
ferred for final settlement. 

Sec. 3.—That the hearing be tested 
by the spoken word of the examiner 
and by a watch or acoumeter, and that 
for entrance to the service a candidate 
be required to repeat correctly words or 
numbers spoken in an ordinary conver¬ 
sational tone at a distance of 20 feet; 
or. for re-examination, at a distance of 
10 feet. 

Sec. 4.—The acuteness of vision 
should be tested by the test types of 
Professor Snellen, or those which con¬ 
form to his standards, which should in 
all instances have the same intensity and 
source of illumination. 

Sec. 5. —There should be two general 
standards of visual and aural require¬ 
ments, viz., one for new men hoping to 
enter the service, and to be actively en¬ 
gaged in the operation of trains, and in 
giving and receiving signals; and one 
for those men engaged in similar work 
who have been uninterruptedly in a com¬ 
pany's service for five years, either the 
company from which employment is 
sought, or some other company enforcing 
similar regulations. These latter may be 
regarded as old employes. 

Sec. 6. —The following minimum re¬ 
quirements should be adopted for acute¬ 
ness of vision : 

CLASS A. 

Enginemen (road service)', firemen 
(road service) : 

Entrance to Service. —20/20 in each 
eye tested separately without glasses and 
shall not possess more than 1% D. of 
apparent hyperopia 

Re-Examination of Those in the Serv¬ 
ice. —Enginemen shall not be retained in 
their positions if vision sinks below 
20/40 in one eye and 20/30 in the other, 
or 20/20 in one eye and 20/50 in the 
other, unless such vision can be brought 
up to standard with glasses. Distance 
glasses must be worn when on duty, pro¬ 
vided such glasses are necessary in or¬ 
der to bring vision up to the required 
standard. Firemen shall not be eligible 
for promotion to enginemen if vision 
sinks below 20/30 in either eye without 
glasses, and shall not be retained as fire¬ 
men if vision sinks below 20/40 in either 
eye without glasses. 

CLASS B. 

Passenger conductors, passenger bag- 
gagemasters, passenger brakemen. ticket 
collectors, freight conductors, freight 
brakemen. yard masters, yard conduc¬ 
tors. yard brakemen, yard enginemen. 
yard firemen, switchmen, draw tenders, 
engine inspectors, car inspectors; 

Entrance to Service. —20/20 in one 
eye and not less than 20/40 in the other. 
Tested separately without glasses. 
Glasses must be worn on duty if they 
improve vision. 

Re-Examination of Those in the Serv¬ 
ice. —Employes shall not be retained in 
these positions if vision sinks below 
20’40 in one eye and 20 .30 in the other 
eye, or 2n 20 in one eye and 20 50 In 
the other, unless such vision can be 
brought up to standard with glasses. 
Glasses must be worn if they are neces- 
eary to secure adequate vision. 

CLASS C. 

Towermen. telegraph operators, sta¬ 
tion agents, section foremen : 

Entrance to Service. —20/20 in one 
eye and not less than 20/40 in the other. 
Tested separately with or without 
glasses. 

Re-Examination of Those in the Serv¬ 
ice. —Same as above. 

CLASS D. 

Crossing flagmen : 

Entrance to Service. —20/40 with both 
eyes open, with or without glasses. 

Re-Examination of Those in the Serv¬ 
ice. —20/50 with both eyes open, with 
or without glasses. 


Sec. 7.—The color perception should 
be tested by means of the colored wors¬ 
teds of Professor Holmgren, preferably 
with worsteds tagged for the purpose of 
record; also, that in every case an ad¬ 
ditional test should be made with a 
lantern showing a number of colored 
lights, which can be varied in their 
size and intensity. 


Sec. 8.—Re-examination should be 
made of all such employes every three 
years: and after any severe illness, or 
accident, or any occurrence which seems 
to cast doubt on the visual and aural 
capacity of the individual. Re-examina- 
tions should also be made more fre¬ 
quently on men known to be excessive 
users of tobacco, or to be suffering from 
syphilis, albuminuria, diabetes, or acute 
or chronic eye or ear diseases. They 
should always be examined before pro¬ 
motion. 

Sec. 9.—Men known to be excessive 
users of liquor should not receive em¬ 
ployment for the services above desig¬ 
nated (Section 5). 


Sec. 10.—Written instructions should 
be furnished those making the examina¬ 
tions. 






















































• I 














































. ■ 








•4 
















21 


chorioid in blacksmiths and rolling mill workers which caused 
impairment of vision. In all cases the injury seemed to be 
permanent and directly connected with the exposure to heat. 

Dr. do Schweinitz, after the examination of puddlers 
for incipient cataract, concluded that: 

These puddlers are apt to show a good deal of low-grade dis¬ 
turbance of the chorioid, the condition which is sometimes 
vaguely called congestion of the chorioid, the “ripe peach 
chorioid” of Risley’s phraseology, and it seems possible to tell 
by ophthalmoscopic examination whether a man was a right- 
handed or a left-handed puddler; in other words, that eye 
which was more directly exposed to the glare from the furnace 
was the one more apt to show the condition to which I have 
referred. 



Fig. 10.—Interlocking railroad crossing signal with bad back¬ 
ground, C., M. & St. P. R. R. 

Dr. Pose}r, after examination of several hundred glass- 
blowers and men working about the furnaces in glass 
establishments, says: 

I am convinced that working over furnaces does produce cat¬ 
aracts, for I have found opacities of the lens at an age far 
earlier in men engaged in this work than could be accounted 
for by senility. In looking over my ophthalmoscopic findings 
of the cases, I noted that I thought the chorioids were congested 
and the optic nerves grayer than they should be in many in¬ 
stances. Whether the cataracts are due to the chorioidal 
changes or whether they are due to the heat or light emanat- 








22 


ing from the furnaces or from the action of some rays whose 
existence is unknown to us at present, I can not say. 

Dr. Casey A. Wood reports a case from an electric 
welding furnace, and says: 

In answer to your circular note, I know that I have had a 
number of cases of injury to the eye from looking into furnaces 
without the protection of glasses. In one case the injury 
lasted at least a year, and, so far as my information goes, was 
permanent. 

Dr. Charles A. Oliver said: 

I have had a number of cases; not only uveal tract and reti¬ 
nal disturbance, but with both associated and consequent len¬ 
ticular swelling and opacification. The interesting point of my 
findings has been that the left eye was the one which was 
either primarily or alone affected in right-handed men, this 
eye, by reason of the right arm being the governing one, being 
that which was situated near the fire. The injury was perma¬ 
nent, but never absolute, as proved by studying the eyegrounds 
after extraction of cataract. 

Dr. Minnehan, Topeka, reports many complaints from 
firemen, but no permanent trouble. 

Dr. Chas. H. Williams has never seen a case, but re¬ 
marks: “It is easy to believe such work would aggra¬ 
vate such existing conditions/ 5 and Dr. BurryV 4 
recent paper, “Electrical Ophthalmias/ 5 mentions sev¬ 
eral from electric welding. The reports show no perma¬ 
nent injury resulting from electric flashing. 

A number of firemen have volunteered the informa¬ 
tion that they had passed their entrance examination 
all right, but when they were re-examined after four 
.or five years 5 service their left eye was not so good as 
the right, which is the one next to the fire-box in 
stoking. 

MECHANICAL PROTECTION OF THE EYES. 

Protection of some kind is the only method of over¬ 
coming the effect produced by the impact of snow, mist, 
rain and wind against the eye, and all sorts of devices 
are resorted to. Fully 90 per cent, of the men questioned 
admitted they carried some form of a protection glass 
for such an emergency. With lenses before my eyes I 
found no difficulty in facing the worst storms; the glasses 
did not become dimmed enough to prevent sufficient 
vision to read signals at any distance they could be 

14. Burry, Dr. James: Electrical Ophthalmia, Chicago Med¬ 
ical Recorder, March, 1904. 



23 


made out with prevailing weather conditions, and the 
condition of the eyes was infinitely better. The larger 
the lenses the more perfect the protection. The ques¬ 
tion of fogging, as Dr. Young 3 says, “may be dismissed 
if we only stop to consider that fogging only occurs 
when going from a cold air into a warm one,” and 
within five seconds after contact with cold air the lenses 
are clear again. This point, however, is one small fac¬ 
tor against the use of glasses by trainmen, as the en¬ 
gineer is unable to see distinctly about his cab for the 
few moments his glasses are fogged, after contact with 
cold, but he is equally unable to see for the same length 
of time as a result of coming in contact with snow, rain 


m 




Fig. 11.—Home and distant signals, home signal clear, distant 
stop, ideal background, U. P. R. R. 

and wind with the naked eye. The lenses also protect 
the eyes from the flying coal dust in the cab. 

The reflection from snow, from a body of water, the 
sun near the horizon and the shimmer on hot days was 
best overcome with the amber lenses. 

CARE OF THE LAMPS IN NIGHT SIGNALING. 

A very great deal depends, in night signaling, on the 
care taken of the lamps used, and the lenses in the spec¬ 
tacle frame of the semaphore arm must be kept clean. 
A lamp not properly trimmed or turned too high will 
smoke its lenses, and as a consequence the signal is dim 
or almost invisible. Under such conditions enginemen 










24 


with defective color perception or a tendency toward 
color confusion can not distinguish between red, green 
or white; even with normal color perception the sig¬ 
nal can not be seen at sufficient distance to control a 
train. The difference in the care taken of the lamps 
is very 3narked in going over 40 or 50 miles of road. 

With 20/20 (6/VI) V., under good atmospheric con¬ 
ditions, with good backgrounds (-Fig. 14), semaphores 
could be distinguished at 2 to 3 miles. With night sig¬ 
nals, under the same conditions, the white could be 
seen at 1 to 2 miles, the red at 1 to 1 y 2 miles, and the 
green and yellow at % to 1 mile. When I became fa¬ 
miliar with the location, position, and background of a 
signal, I could distinguish it at a greater distance, 
showing that the enginemen, knowing just where to look 
for the signals, can distinguish them much more quickly 
and at a greater distance than a novice with equally 
good vision. 

With -f-1.00 D, before each eye, my vision was re¬ 
duced to 20/40 (6/XII) with the Snellen test type 
with which I could make out day-position signals at 
about 2,800 feet, night signals at about 3,000 feet. 
Plus 1.50 gave me 20/80 (6/XXIY) vision. With 
these I could not make out a signal until within 200 to 
500 feet. 

Dr. Young 3 states: 

The lamp signals stand out better with 20/40 than with 
20/20. This is explained when one considers that with 20/20 
the effulgent rays can be made out. These effulgent rays give 
a twinkling unsteady effect, which is still farther accentuated 
by the jolting of the engine. With 20/40 these effulgent rays 
are blotted out and the lamps stand out as illuminated discs. 

This was also my experience. At the much-lessened 
distance I could make out the lights with 20/40 
(6/XII) Y.; but I could make them out much more 
clearly and at a much greater distance with 20/20 
(6/VI) V., as cited above, and again, if there were a 
number of lights displayed, as are usually seen in rail¬ 
road yards, the proximity of these illuminated discs 
were very confusing. 

MEDICAL REPORTS REGARDING THE STANDARD OF VISION. 

There are at present four reports as to the standard 
of vision and hearing required by trainmen, which have 
been adopted by four representative medical societies of 
the United States, i. e., Section on Ophthalmology of 


25 


the American Medical Association, the House of Dele¬ 
gates of the American Medical Association, the Ameri¬ 
can Ophthalmological Society, and the American Acad¬ 
emy of Railway Surgeons. There is a fifth report, 
which I have been unable to obtain so far, adopted by 
the American Railway Association; the work of the 
committee has not been completed. 

These reports are all the result of careful and pains¬ 
taking work, by men who have devoted a great deal of 
time to the subject. Dr. William Thomson 15 was the 
first in the United States to inaugurate a system of 
practical examination of railway employes, and in 1881 
this was adopted by the Pennsylvania Railroad Com- 



Fig. 12.—Train order signal, disc type, N. P. R. R. 

pany. All here are familiar with the good work done 
by Dr. Frank Allport 16 and Dr. Chas. H. Williams. 17 

15. Thomson, Dr. Wm. : The Practical Examination of Rail¬ 
way Employes as to Color Blindness, Acuteness of Vision and 
Haring, “Nettleship, Diseases of the Eye.” 

16. Allport, Dr. Frank: The Eyes and Ears of Employes of 
Transportation Companies, The Journal A. M. A., Dec. 16, 1899 : 
What Amount of Visual Defect Should Disqualify in Railroad 
Service, The Journal A. M. A., Oct. 13, 1900; Some Remarks 
Concerning the Ocular and Aural Requirements of Railroad Em¬ 
ployes, The Journal A. M. A., Feb. 27, 1904. 

17. Williams, Dr. Chas. H. : Vision, Coloi*-Sense and Hearing, 
Western Railway Club, Feb. 8, 1902; The Need of a Supplementary 
Lantern Test for the Proper Examination of Color Perception. 
Boston Med. and Surg. Jour., July 30, 1903. 









26 


In 1901 the committee appointed three years previously 
by the Section on Ophthalmology 18 of the American 
Medical Association made their report, which was 
adopted by that Section. The following year the House 
of Delegates 19 adopted a somewhat modified report. The 
American Ophthalmological Society 20 report was 
adopted in 1901. The report of the American Academy 
of Railway Surgeons 21 was adopted in 1903. 

EXAMINATION OF EMPLOYES. 

Many roads are using a set of rules for the exami¬ 
nation of their employes, modeled after some one of 
these reports, and it is my opinion that if what we wish 
to arrive at is uniformity in examinations among the 
various railroads, the medical organizations must have 
a uniform report. These reports vary but little in the 
essential features, and any one could well be adopted by 
all. 

There is no reason why they can not be merged (as 
some railroads are trying to do at the present time) in¬ 
to one, and we could then have a uniform standard in 
practice as well as name; and it seems feasible that if 
four representative societies combine on one report the 
railroad officials will be much more willing to adopt 
the same. Then, as Dr. Chamberlain remarks: “We 
shall be working in harmony with others, and when a 
man comes off the C., B. & Q. to the Northern Pacific, 
he can not be employed if he has been discharged from 
the Q. road.” 

Regarding the sections of the four reports, all agree 
as to the necessity of examination for vision and hear¬ 
ing. 

In Section 2 there is a slight bone of contention, and 
while it must be admitted that examinations by oph¬ 
thalmic surgeons would be more scientific and more 
nearly correct, it has been conclusively shown that ex- 

18. Report of Section of Ophthalmology of the American Medical 
Association, Vision and Color-Sense of Railway Employes, Tran¬ 
sactions Section on Ophthalmology. A. M. A., 1901. 

19. Report Adopted by House of Delegates Amer. Med. Assn. 
Regarding Tests of Sight and Hearing for Railway Employes, 
Transactions House of Delegates Amer. Med. Assn., 1902. 

20. Report of the Committee of the American Ophthalmological 
Society on Standards and Methods of Examining the Acuteness 
of Vision, Color-Sense and Hearing for Railway and Marine 
Service, Transactions Amer. Ophth. Soc., 1902. 

21. Report adopted by American Academy of Railway Surgeons, 
Uniform Standard for the Examination of Railway Employes, 
Transactions Amer. Acad. Railway Surgeons, 1903. 



2 ? 


aminations carried out under the instruction of an oph¬ 
thalmic surgeon, by men selected by the company, who 
refer doubtful cases to such surgeon, have resulted in 
perfect satisfaction to all concerned. 

The reports all agree as to the standard of test types 
used. A word may be said here regarding uniformity 
of illumination of test type, inasmuch as uniformity is 
the watchword. We all know what a variation there is 
in the intensity of illumination of test charts, and this 
results in a very great difference in the grade of visual 
acuity obtained by different examiners. A transillum- 
ined or self-luminous test cabinet is the only means 
of overcoming this difficulty. Such a one is described 
in the Ophthalmic Record. 22 



Fig. 13.—Conditions about engine interfering with vision of 
signals. 


The section referring to the minimum requirements 
for acuteness of vision is the most important clause, and 
all the reports agree that 20/20 (6/VI) vision in each 
eye without glasses shall be required for entrance into 
service or promotion. 

STANDARD OF REQUIREMENTS. 

The standard of 20/20 (6/VI) V. for entrance into 
service for Class “A” is the least that should be re¬ 
quired ; but when it comes to promotion in service, there 
should be some concession made, for firemen who have 


22. Black, Dr. Nelson M. : Luminous Test Cabinet, Ophth. 
Record, April, 1904. 







28 


stoked from five to eight years show, as a rule, some loss 
of vision, especially in the left eye, which improves, ac¬ 
cording to the records, after the change in environment. 
Dr. Williams 17 says: 

A fireman who has worked for some six years satisfactorily 
as fireman comes up for promotion to engineer. He has only 
20/30 vision; the rule requires 20/20, the object being that 
when a man first began his work as engineman or fireman you 
wanted to begin with a man who had normal vision. It seems 
to me that it is hardly fair as it works out. If he has 20/30 
on re-examination you will allow him to continue to run as 
fireman, and if he has 20/30 on re-examination you will allow 
him to continue to work as engineman; then, why not allow 
him to be transferred from one side of the cab to the other 
with the same amount of vision, 20/30? 

The House of Delegates’ report and that of the Amer¬ 
ican Ophthalmological Society require for re-examina¬ 
tion of those in the service, “20/30 with both eyes open, 
without glasses,” with the additional requirement that 
“each eye should be tested separately and the vision of 
each noted.” Under this ruling a man with one blind 
eye could be retained in service, and Dr. Williams 17 
brings the following argument forward in support of 
what he acknowledges to be a fact: 

This rule allows a man to continue running who has 20/30 
of normal vision in one eye and little or none in the other. 
The fact of such defect is brought to the notice of the operating 
officer in the report of the examination, and a man with this 
defect would naturally be assigned to less trying runs than 
would be given to those with perfect sight. A standard has 
sometimes been recommended which provides that in 
this class a man must have vision of 20/30, or bet¬ 
ter, in one eye, and 20/40, or better, in the other in or¬ 
der to be passed as satisfactory. Suppose a man had 20/20, or 
normal vision, in one eye, and 20/50 in the other. This rule 
would reject him, which seems unfair. In such a case the 
man, for all practical purposes, uses only the visual impres¬ 
sions which he gets from his good eye, and it makes little dif¬ 
ference to him in his work whether the poor eye has a vision 
of 20/50, or 20/70. or 20/40. The work he is able to do is 
measured by the capacity of the better eye, and he becomes so 
accustomed to the monocular vision that it gives him little in¬ 
convenience. It has been urged that if an engineman with 
only one good eye got a hot cinder in it he would be of little 
use. That is true; but it must be remembered that in the cab 
there is always a fireman with a second pair of good eyes, 
ready to take up the work in any such emergency until as- 


29 


sistance can be obtained, and also, even if the engineman had 
two good eyes, the pain and flow of tears which would' be 
caused by the hot cinder in one eye, would prevent a satisfac¬ 
tory use of the other. 

In reply to this, in the first place, Dr. Williams ad¬ 
mits that the man is not so safe a man and should be 
“assigned a less trying run.” Further, I contend that 
with 20/30 in one eye, 20/40, 20/50 or even 20/70 in 
the other, helps the vision of the better eye. With my 
vision reduced to 20/40 I could read day signals per¬ 
fectly at y 2 mile, night signals at 4,000 feet, and with 
20/80 at 500 e eet and 800 feet, respectively. The fire- 



Fig. 14.—Block signal with smoke background, C. & N. W. R. R. 

man has about all he can attend to on a limited train 
without assuming an engineman’s responsibility; fur¬ 
ther, there should be no excuse for using him in such 
an emergency, by simply changing the clause to read as 
it does in the other reports, or as it does in the reports 
from which it was evidently adopted, i. e., that of the 
Dutch State Kailway. 23 

For the post of engine driver or stoker, ... on looking 
with both eyes open, visual acuteness of at least 3/4 (without 
glasses) . . . with each eye separately, the other eye being 
covered, visual acuteness of at least 1/3 (without glasses). . . . 


23. Transactions Amer. Ophth. Soc., 1902. 




30 


This would fully cover the entire field of contention. 
Dr. Allport’s 24 stand against this clause is well taken: 

Under Section 5, House of Delegates’ report, under the re¬ 
quirements for re-examinations of those in the service “belong¬ 
ing to Class A,” it says: “The employe shall possess a vision 
of 20/30 with both eyes open, without glasses. Each eye should 
also be tested separately and the vision of each noted.” This 
opens a wide avenue of discussion. The report of the Section 
on Ophthalmology concerning this same point says that “Em¬ 
ployes enumerated in Class A shall not be retained, in such 
positions if vision sinks below 20/30 in one eye and 20/40 in 
the other.” In other words, a reasonable standard is required 
of each eye, and it seems as if this must appeal to the judg- 



Fig. 15.—Bracket pole semaphore block, C., M. & St. P. R. R. 
Ideal background. 


ment of anyone at all familiar with such work. Would anyone 
in this society care to travel on a train at the rate of 50 or 60 
miles an hour with an engineer wearing a glass eye? I think 
not; the idea is untenable, and yet this is exactly what the 
House of Delegates’ report permits, for it says that vision 
must be 20/30 with both eyes open. To be sure, it also says: 
“Each eye should be tested separately, and the vision of each 
noted,” but it goes no further. It does not inflict any penalty 
in case an engineer has one blind eye. While disposed to be 
most liberal with the old employes of a road, and while recog- • 
nizing its advisability and almost necessity if good service and 


24. Allport, Dr. Frank : Some Remarks Concerning the Ocular 
and Aural Requirements of Railway Employes, Railway Surgeon. 
December. 1003. 

V 











31 


freedom from labor union complications are to be encouraged, I 
still can not indorse the idea of testing with both eyes open, 
and of ignoring the condition of a man’s worst eye. The idea 
is evidently conceived from the action of the International 
Congress, which met in Amsterdam in 1879, and which in 
formulating rules for the ocular condition of transportation em¬ 
ployes, under the guidance of Professor Donders, repeatedly 
speaks of testing with “both eyes open.” This was evidently 
recommended, because it is well known that one eye assists the 
other to see, and the committee desired to treat all employes 
with all possible clemency, but they did not in their recom¬ 
mendations ignore the condition of either eye. 

Magnus and Wiirdemann 25 give as the minimum 
amount of vision for enginemen 75 per cent, of the 



Fig. 16.—Disc home signal for tunnel with bad background, 
V. P. R. R. 

scientific standard (6/VI), which is equal to 6/VIII, 
or approximately 20/XXX, “which is practically a per¬ 
fect working or economic standard of vision” 

Applicants for entrance into service possessing 1 y 2 D. 
of hyperopia or over, should not be accepted, for the 
reason that they will need glasses to bring their vision 
up to the required standard at the age of 35 or 40. 

At this point the subject of glasses must be consid¬ 
ered, and from my experience I would heartily indorse 
a clause to the effect that if the vision of those exam¬ 
ined for promotion after five years’ service and those 


25. Magnus and Wiirdemann : Visual Economics. 











32 


re-examined in service fell below the standard required, 
and such vision could be brought up to the required 
standard by glasses, they be promoted or retained ift 
service. “Glasses must be worn if they are necessary 
to secure adequate vision.” It is my unbiased opinion 
that protection to the eyes by lenses, more especially if 
needed to correct any refractive error, are of great bene¬ 
fit, and such opinion has been arrived at with a great 
deal of thought and careful study of the few objections 
to glasses for trainmen. The reports of Dr. J. de Lant- 
shure 26 and Dr. J. A. Denney 27 as to the diminution of 
vision after long runs, I think can be easily explained. 
The men undoubtedly had more or less latent hyperopia, 



Fig. 17.—Semaphores with bars of telegraph poles interfering, 
Kansas City yards. 

and the constant accommodative effort so tired the cil¬ 
iary muscle that vision was somewhat reduced after a 
long run. 

The color tests are of equal importance with visual 
acuity, and all reports agree in the use of the Holmgren 
wools. 

The use of a lantern for a control test is a good idea, 
but why in the examination with the Holmgren wools 
is the following rule given: “No names should be men¬ 
tioned in connection with any color in the above worsted 
tests; the tests should be based only on a comparison of 


26. de Lantshiure, J. : Trans. Amer. Ophth. Soe.. 1002. 

27. Denney, J. A. : Trans. Amer. Ophth. Soc., 1902. 














33 


colors/’ and with the lantern test, “have the person 
being examined call the names of the colors shown.” 

The value of the color test is to determine whether 
the person examined can distinguish between various 
shades and degrees of intensity of color, so they can be 
sure of a signal if its intensity is reduced by atmos¬ 
pheric conditions, smoky or dirty lenses, or improperly 
regulated illumination. It has been stated many times 
that men can distinguish without any hesitation be¬ 
tween danger, caution or clear colors, displayed of vary¬ 
ing degrees of intensity, but fall down at ^ once if re¬ 
quired to name the colors: 

Again quoting Dr. Williams : 17 



Fig. 18.—Block sigDal with bad background. C., M. & St. P. R. R. 

I have found personally in the last few years four cases of 
men who passed the worsted test without any difficulty, who 
picked out these colors quickly and accurately, but when they 
looked at a distant signal, or when they looked at the testing 
lantern, especially with small openings, they would often call 
a red light green, or a green light red; they were just as likely 
to mix up red and green as they were to get them right. This 
is due to a defect in the central portion of the retina. In such 
cases, when the colored object is large enough, or when it is 
placed near enough to the eyes, its image will extend beyond 
the affected parts of the retina, and its color can be at once 
recognized; but when the retinal image is small, as is the case 
with the light from a distant signal, which falls wholly within 


L.ofC. 



34 


the affected area, it is easily mistaken. In order to get at the 
fact as to whether a man is thoroughly able to recognize his 
signals you need both a worsted test and a lantern test, the 
lantern coming nearer to the actual condition of night signals, 
where the man has nothing except the color to guide him. 

Beplyipg to this, I do not think a person with sco¬ 
toma of sufficient magnitude to pass the worsted test 
and fail on the lantern test would have sufficient vision 
to pass the required visual standard. There is no doubt 
the lantern test is more nearly a road test and will seem 
more fair to railroad men, but it should be used only 
as a control test, not as a substitute for the worsted test. 



Fig. 19.—Block signal with bad foreground, C.. M. & St. P. R. R. 

The sections relating to the time of re-examination 
are unanimous, as also are those regarding the use of 
liquor. 

The report -should be accompanied with instructions 
for making the various tests and the use of the appa¬ 
ratus required. 

CONCLUSIONS. 

The result of my observations has been, in brief: 

1. The best known standard of visual acuity and 
color perception should be required of men concerned in 
the active operation of trains. 

2. The signal systems now in vogue, while they arc 









35 


not perfect, are sufficiently adequate for the standard 
of vision required and the present speed of trains. 

3. Certain physical and accidental conditions about 
engines interfering with vision can not be overcome un¬ 
less the position of the enginemen can be changed. 

4. Certain atmospheric conditions interfering with 
vision can not be overcome; others can be mitigated or 
entirely relieved by the use of some form of protection 
to the eyes. 

5. Glasses are not a hindrance to enginemen, and 
their use should be allowed when required to protect the 



Fig. 20.—Block signal with bad background, C. & N. W. R. R. 


eyes or to bring the vision up to required standard, but 
no person should be accepted into service requiring 
them or who will accept a plus lens of iy 2 or 2 D. 

6. With four reports emanating from four different 
sources of equal merit and standing, and all different in 
small details, the obtaining of perfect uniformity in 
examination of railway employes is out of the question, 
as it can not be expected that the officials of different 
roads will all decide on the same report. 

7. Furthermore, state legislation on the subject of 
vision and color perception of railway employes is be- 











36 


ing seriously considered, two states, Massachusetts and 
Ohio, having statutes regulating this. As nearly all 
railroads pass through a number of states, it would be 
well for the societies from which these reports emanate 
to agree in all details, as the state laws will necessarily 
be based on them, and if different states have different 
standards, an engineman qualifying in one and not in 
another, with his run extending in both, would be in 
serious difficulty. 

9,816. Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the general assent of the 
state of Ohio that no railroad company shall hereafter con¬ 
tract to employ any person in a position which requires him 
to distinguish form or color signals, unless such person 
within two years next preceding has been examined for color 
blindness in the distinct colors in actual use by such railroad 
company by some competent person employed and paid by the 
railroad company, and has received a certificate that he is 
not disqualified for such position by color blindness in the 
colors used by a railroad company. Every railroad company 
shall require such employe to be re-examined at least once 
within every two years at the expense of the railroad com¬ 
pany, provided that nothing in this section shall prevent any 
railroad company from continuing in its employment any em¬ 
ploye having defective sight in all cases where such defective 
sight can be fully remedied by the use of glasses or by other 
means satisfactory to the person making such examinations. 
(As amended March 3, 1888.) 

The law in Massachusetts is practically the same as 
the above. 

I am greatly obliged to Dr. H. R. Young for a great many 
suggestions and for engine permit on a portion of the Chicago, 
Burlington & Quincy Railway : to Dr. J. W. Chamberlain for engine 
permits on the Great Northern and Northern Pacific Railways ; to 
Dr. Haldor Sneve for engine permit on the Chicago & Great 
Western : to Mr. A. J. Earling. president. Mr. J. N. Barr, assistant 
to president. Mr. A. E. Manchester, superintendent motive power, 
and Mr. L. R. Clausen, signal engineer, of the Chicago, Milwaukee 
&. St. Paul Railway, for engine permits and much information 
relating to engines and railway signaling: to Mr. W. A. Gardner, 
general manager. Mr. R. Quayle. superintendent motive power, 
Mr. H. T. Bentley, assistant superintendent motive power, and 
Mr. W. E. Dunham. Chicago & Northwestern Railway, for engine 
permit and information; to Mr. T. Lowry, president, and Mr. E. 
Pennington, general manager, the Soo Railway, for engine permit: 
and to Mr. A. J. Carney, master mechanic of the Chicago, Burl¬ 
ington & Quincy Railway, for suggestions; Mr. H. L. Hollister, 
engineer Hall Signal Company, for pictures of signals and general 
information: Mr. Chas. Dunham, signal engineer Illinois Central 
Railway, for engine permit and suggestions; Mr. Mark A. Ross, 
general manager Pyle National Electric Headlight Company, for 
pictures and suggestions: Mr. Jos. W. Taylor, secretary Western 
Railway Club: Mr. F. P. Patenall, signal engineer, Mr. D. D. 
Carothers, chief engineer, and Mr. E. J. Schwellenbach, train¬ 
master Baltimore & Ohio Railway, for suggestions and engine 
permit. 


37 


DISCUSSION. 

Dr. C. H. Williams, Boston—Dr. Black comes to very much 
the same conclusions as have been arrived at before. In some 
of the smaller points he differs a little. As to the last thing 
he mentioned, in regard to legislation, it seems to me there is 
little use in trying to do anything in that way. The next legis¬ 
lature can repeal the laws made by the former one. That was 
done in Connecticut, and that is likely to be the fate of any 
legislation on the subject. In Massachusetts and Ohio the 
law practically amounts to nothing. In Alabama there is a 
little better law, but even that does not specify how the exam¬ 
ination shall be made. In regard to the question of the lan¬ 
tern as a substitute for the worsted test, I have never advised 
it as a substitute, but simply as a supplementary test. I had 
a man who picked out the worsteds in the Thompson and 
Holmgren sets, but who in the lantern test called red green 
oftener than he called it red. He used tobacco to excess and 
had a small central scotoma for red and green, which was not 
large enough to cover all the retinal image of the worsteds, but 
the light from a distant signal came entirely within the sco¬ 
toma. Men entering the service should come up to a high 
standard. If you have a lot of men coming into the service 
without any examination, and later require examinations, some 
of the men fail to pass, and there is trouble; but if a proper 
examination had been made of those men when they applied 
for work most of them would not have been accepted. For the 
post of engine driver or stoker, on looking with both eyes open, 
visual acuteness of at least three-fourths, without glasses; 
with each eye separately, the other being covered, visual acute¬ 
ness of at least one-third, without glasses. This is the re¬ 
quirement of the Dutch railways for re-examination. The re¬ 
quirement for candidates entering the service is much more 
severe. 

Dr. J. H. Claiborne, New York City—I have never done any 
work particularly along the line Dr. Black has outlined, but 
many years ago there was a commission which met in Washing¬ 
ton to determine means for preventing disasters at sea, and on 
that occasion I suggested the idea of eliminating red and green 
entirely from the lighting of ships. I endeavored to find out 
when the system of red and green lights had been instituted. I 
suggested that on the starboard side a parallelogram of the 
shape of a star or diamond be placed, and on the other side a 
different figure, in white lights. That commission went out of 
session after having done nothing except to change the depth 
of the water line. My paper was read and commented on and 
then laid aside. I have never suggested its use for railways. 
The difficulty lies in seeing the red and green colors under cer¬ 
tain conditions. If we could use white light with geometrical 
figures, or blue, which is a rare color, it would simplify mat- 


38 


ters to some extent. There should be three men on a cab— 
one to drive, one to stoke, and a third to be on watch all the 
time. 

Dr. W. E. Lambert, New York City—There is one point not 
particularly emphasized, and that is the importance of having 
all the employes examined by competent ophthalmologists. 
The method in use by most of the roads of having the man 
passed on by one of their own employes is not sufficient. There 
is no system perhaps more particular than the Pennsylvania, 
and yet there came under my observation within the last year 
two men who had been employed by that road who had been 
passed by their examiners, and who had left to go to another 
road, in both of whom there was distinct color blindness. These 
men should be examined by ophthalmologists. It is very diffi¬ 
cult to lay down a standard. The intelligent ophthalmologist 
should be able to decide that point. There are many cases 
where men with 20/30 or even 20/40 vision, when due to a 
slight astigmatism, might be accepted. It is the cause of the 
poor , vision which is of importance. As to the lantern, I have 
only found one case which showed any color blindness with it 
that had not been discovered by the wool tests, and that was 
where it was due to a central color scotoma, and in that re¬ 
spect the lantern test is of value. 

Dr. John S. Kirkendall, Ithaca, N. Y.—There is one thing 
which has been omitted in this most interesting paper of Dr. 
Black—lack of education on the part of railroad employes as 
to colors. I have tried men with the wool test, and they could 
select the colors, but with the lantern test they failed. Failure 
to pass is a serious thing for these workingmen; very often a 
little instruction in the names of colors means a great deal. 
Recently I had three faithful employes fail with the lantern 
test. I sent them home to return in four weeks, and in the 
meantime told them to take some lessons. They all returned 
and passed a perfect examination. 

Dr. H. V. Wurdemann, Milwaukee—As to the points of dif¬ 
ference between the committees, I am glad that Dr. Black and 
Dr. Williams have reconciled the differences that existed as to 
the examination of color vision. I defy any one to find a 
person defective so far as central scotomata and visual acuity 
are concerned where examination with both the woolens and 
Snellen tests will not reveal the defect. As Dr. Williams has 
allowed, I think the lantern should be a supplementary test. 
There are a few cases where I am convinced that the final test 
should be the use to which they are to put their eyes, i. e., as 
our final test in refraction is the experience of the patient 
with the glasses; so in some of our doubtful railroad cases it 
is necessary to examine the man on the train. Either the su¬ 
perintendent or one of the employes can perform that duty. 
If he can pass that test he is a safe man. As to legislation, I 


39 


think we should have the same standard for all the states of the 
Union. 

Dr. F. C. Todd, Minneapolis—There is one point which has 
not been mentioned, i. e., the possible presence of diplopia. I 
was consulted several years ago by an engineer who had been 
examined by one of the regular lay railway examiners, stat¬ 
ing that he had discovered that at times he saw double, and 
that it was confusing, as he could not tell whether a signal 
was meant for his track or not, and could not tell on which 
track another train might be running. He had no fear of pass¬ 
ing the examination, because he had perfect color vision and 
visual acuity of 20/20. Such cases, I presume, are rare, but it 
would seem that they would not be discovered by the ordinary 
tests made by the railway employes, and these men should 
certainly be retired or suspended until the diplopia is cor¬ 
rected. 

Dr. C. F. Clark, Columbus,. Ohio—These cases come to the 
oculist finally for examination. We have found it valuable on 
the Pennsylvania system to make a comparative light sense 
test. Dr. Rogers, I think, first instituted the plan. It is found 
that, irrespective of scotoma, some men have defective light 
sense, although with good visual acuity. Put them in a dark 
room at long distance, have an observer at the side of the pa¬ 
tient to check the test, and allow them to count fingers. This 
method is of great value as bringing out a defective light sense 
that is often surprising. Such a defect is sometimes due to 
tobacco poisoning or to some nerve lesion. 

Dr. Nelson M. Black —The question of legislation as to 
amount of vision and color perception required of trainmen 
was brought to my notice by railroad men and is something 
that is worrying them considerably. Regarding the lantern 
test for color perception, the men being examined should be re¬ 
quired to tell whether the color shown indicates caution, dan¬ 
ger or safety. This would be far better than naming the colors, 
as so many men are ignorant of the names of colors, especially 
the shades, and make all sorts of mistakes in attempting to 
name them. In examining men for the Army at the beginning 
of the Spanish-American War, all I had to use for color test¬ 
ing was paint samples, and pointing to well-defined shades, re¬ 
quested them to name the colors; many could not do so. When 
asked if there was anything a certain color resembled, as, for 
instance, green, they would answer readily that it was the color 
of grass, etc. Several superintendents have informed me that 
they have taken men over the roads who have failed to pass 
the color tests, particularly on re-examination, and found in 
every instance that, while the men could not pass the lantern 
color tests in the office, they made no mistake on the road as 
to what the color indicated. A high standard of vision for en¬ 
trance must be required. The lessened standard for re-exam- 


40 


ination is made more for the old men, enginemen and trainmen, 
who came into the service without passing any examination or 
before examinations were required, and so the requirements 
must be made less than otherwise. The idea is to get men as 
nearly perfect as possible into service now, and later on the 
standard for re-examination may be raised. 

Dr. Claiborne referred to the use of white lights; the major¬ 
ity of roads object to the use of white light in signaling en¬ 
tirely, as it is so easily mistaken for the lights illuminating 
the cities and towns the roads run through. They are now 
using yellow to some extent as a caution color, with green as 
clear. The use of blue lenses is out of the question with the 
kerosene lamps used to illuminate them, as they can not be dis¬ 
tinguished at sufficient distance to be of use as a signal. With 
my vision reduced to one-half of normal, I could make out 
signals at one-half mile, and so I think enginemen with 20/40 
vision should be retained in service, even if with but 20/40 in 
both eyes, and especially if a clause be inserted to take them 
from the more trying runs and give them service about the 
yards, where such a high standard of vision is not necessary. 


















































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